This week, eight teams descended on Daytona International Speedway to compete for four starting positions in the Daytona 500.
Two of the four slots have already been claimed as a result of Wednesday night’s qualifying session.
Ryan Preece (eighth fastest overall) and David Ragan (13th quickest) are assured to start Sunday’s race as the two drivers with the fastest qualifying speeds among the eight non-charter teams.
Two spots are still available for the non-charter team that finished first in each of Thursday night’s qualifying races.
Preece was particularly pleased with his performance. He intends to race in the Cup Series for a second full season with JTG Daugherty, but his No. 37 Chevrolet team does not have a charter this season, so he will have to race his way into the 500.
“I knew we would have speed in our No. 37 Chevrolet, but I am really proud of the effort that everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing organization put in to get our car as fast as it is and qualify on speed into the Daytona 500,” Preece said.
“We ran some solid laps in practice and I think that prepared me for tonight to put down one solid lap to qualify us in to the race on Sunday.”
Preece left DIS after confirming his spot in the 500 and drove to New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, where he started last in the John Blewett III Memorial 76 modified race.
“This is the best start to Speedweeks and the 2021 season that we could think of and I’m looking forward to a strong night tomorrow and a stronger race on Sunday,” Preece said.
Ryan Preece Shirt 2017 Racing Clothes Nascar
“This is the best start to Speedweeks and the 2021 season that we could think of and I’m looking forward to a strong night tomorrow and a stronger race on Sunday,” Preece said.
Ragan’s stakes weren’t quite as high, but he didn’t want to miss out on taking the green flag because it was his only scheduled race in 2021.
“It was a different feeling to come to Daytona and not be locked in and knowing that I had a lot of pressure. I mean, I had a sponsor and employees that our car owner Bob Jenkins invests a lot of money and I didn’t want to let those guys down,” Ragan said.
“I really thought it could happen either way. I knew we had a good chance to qualify in and race in. They built this car new over the offseason. Doug Yates has great horsepower, but we’re going against some pretty fast race cars.
“I knew that regardless of what happened I was going to give God the glory and it was going to be meant to be whatever happened.”
